ATLANTA—Free TV Networks (FTN) has announced new multi-platform distribution agreements spanning broadcast and streaming. The deals mark the company’s first major expansion since becoming part of Versant in Jan. 2026.

As part of the expansion, Free TV Networks has secured a broadcast distribution agreement with CBS to bring its over-the-air networks 365BLK and Outlaw to CBS’ Owned & Operated (O&O) station group. In addition, FTN is accelerating growth on streaming with new FAST distribution for Pam Grier’s Soul Flix on Sling Freestream.

Under the CBS agreement, Free TV Networks’ 365BLK and Outlaw over-the-air broadcast networks will launch across 16 of CBS’ O&O markets in high-visibility positions. The rollout expands 365BLK consumer availability to 92% of U.S. television households and extends Outlaw’s reach to more than 90%, reinforcing both brands as scaled destinations for viewers and advertisers.

The CBS O&O footprint strengthens FTN’s position as a owner of free broadcast networks and reflects the growing demand for high-quality, advertiser-supported programming with broad national reach.

On streaming, Pam Grier’s Soul Flix continues to build momentum following its launch in January 2025. With more than 13 million hours viewed, the acclaimed FAST channel broadens its footprint with new distribution on Sling Freestream, bringing Grier’s curated collection of film favorites to millions of additional homes nationwide.

“These agreements accelerate our growth plans and represent our first major expansion under Versant,” said Jonathan Katz, president of Free TV Networks. “Free TV Networks’ partnerships with CBS and Sling Freestream are strategic steps forward that amplify scale, broaden reach, and deliver meaningful value to our viewers and advertisers.”

“These agreements represent an early example of how we’re putting our strategy into action,” added David Pietrycha, chief revenue and business officer of Versant. “By expanding Free TV Networks’ distribution across both broadcast and FAST platforms, we’re diversifying our entertainment business, extending our reach to new audiences, and advancing a scalable, free, ad-supported model that complements our broader portfolio and supports our long-term growth strategy.”

Participating CBS O&O stations and markets for 365BLK are:

• WCBS – New York
• KCBS – Los Angeles
• WBBM – Chicago
• WPSG – Philadelphia
• WUPA – Atlanta
• KPIX – San Francisco
• WWJ – Detroit
• KDKA – Pittsburgh
• WJZ – Baltimore

Participating CBS O&O stations and markets for Outlaw are:

• KTVT – Dallas
• WBZ – Boston
• WTOG – Tampa
• KSTW – Seattle
• WCCO – Minneapolis
• WFOR – Miami
• KOVR – Sacramento

SANTA MONICA & NEW YORK—Lionsgate’s Worldwide Television Distribution Group and Debmar-Mercury have launched MovieSphere Gold in more than 30 million homes.

MovieSphere Gold, which they are billing as the first contemporary all-movie digital network, delivers premium films from Lionsgate with exclusive themed marathons and fan-favorite hits.

Driven by films from Lionsgate’s 20,000+-title library, MovieSphere Gold can be seen on DirecTV, Dish TV, streaming service Frndly and Sling Freestream, as well as broadcast groups reaching over 80% of the U.S., including in English on Univision’s digital channels. CBS Media Ventures is handling national advertising sales.

Driven by films from Lionsgate’s 20,000+-title library, MovieSphere Gold can be seen on DirecTV, Dish TV, streaming service Frndly and Sling Freestream, as well as broadcast groups reaching over 80% of the U.S., including in English on Univision’s digital channels. CBS Media Ventures is handling national advertising sales.

With MovieSphere Gold, viewers will have access to Lionsgate’s expansive film library. The upcoming December schedule features a robust lineup of premium movies, including “Dirty Dancing,” “Rambo,” “Kick Ass” and “The Shack,” as well as features from the blockbuster “The Hunger Games” and “The Expendables” franchises.

“MovieSphere Gold offers us the rare opportunity to enter into an area of television – digital broadcasting – that is growing year over year with eight diginets now among the top-50 entertainment networks,” said Debmar-Mercury co-presidents Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus in a statement. “And because of the massive size and quality of the Lionsgate film library, this now gives us the unique ability to pivot to the titles that perform best with viewers.”

“MovieSphere Gold represents the next evolution in multicast entertainment,” added Jim Packer, president of worldwide television distribution for Lionsgate. “This new digital network gives audiences access to acclaimed titles that were previously unavailable in this space, offering a richer, more diverse selection of films than ever before.”

For information on where to find MovieSphere Gold, schedules and launch dates, go to https://moviespheregold.com/.

BALTIMORE—Sinclair is reporting what it is calling “record-breaking growth" and "best-season-to-date ratings” for its free, over-the-air multicast networks, Charge, Comet, Roar and The Nest.

More specifically, Sinclair said that that the networks saw season-to-date ratings growth in the top 10 DMAs with Charge up 21% YoY, Comet up 17%, and Roar up 40% among total viewers.

“Sinclair’s multicast strategy is firing on all cylinders,” said Adam Ware, senior vice president of growth networks at Sinclair. “We’ve made bold moves-elevating content and expanding reach, and viewers have responded making Sinclair’s portfolio of multicast networks the fastest growing group in the rapidly expanding free TV sector.”

The audience growth, Sinclair said, was fueled by several strategic initiatives, including the acquisition of anchor series, expanded distribution in top 10 DMA markets, rebranding of TBD to Roar, strategic programming decisions, and successful fan-focused, multi-platform events including Comet Fest and ChargeCon.

To further drive growth, Sinclair also said that it has has acquired new premium series and movies for the upcoming 2025-26 season across all four multicast networks. It described those programming changes as follows:

• "Charge, the go-to destination for the biggest police procedural franchises in TV history, will add two powerhouse series to the fall schedule with Criminal Minds and Homicide: Life on the Street, marking the series’ return to broadcast television. These join an already stellar lineup that includes CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
• Comet, the leading sci-fi and fantasy network on free TV, boosts its schedule this fall with fan favorites Xena: Warrior Princess and The Outer Limits, alongside Stargate SG1, Grimm and The X-Files, plus blockbuster “Mega Movies” featuring The Matrix trilogy for Comet Fest 2026, Spaceballs, directed by Mel Brooks to celebrate the icon’s 100th birthday, The Terminator, and Star Trek franchises. In November 2026 the network will broadcast Christopher Nolan’s groundbreaking film, Interstellar.
• Roar, which features groundbreaking contemporary comedy, adds two series hosted by Jane Lynch, Hollywood Game Night and past seasons of Weakest Link to the fall lineup, which includes previous seasons of Saturday Night Live, Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Key & Peele.
• The Nest continues to expand its successful schedule of “real people, real stories” series and specials, adding Gene Simmons: Family Jewels, Wahlburgers and My Ghost Story in primetime this July, joining Cold Case Files, Ice Road Truckers and Dog the Bounty Hunter."

NEW YORK—Fubo said it will distribute its linear Fubo Sports network via over-the-air stations in more than 100 markets nationwide including such major markets as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The move makes Fubo Sports available to more than 12 million over-the-air TV households as a diginet, in addition to its continued availability as a FAST channel on Fubo and most free ad-supported streaming platforms.

"In today’s connected and competitive media market, it’s important to reach consumers everywhere they are, whether that be through streaming or traditional platforms,” Head of Fubo Studios Pamela Duckworth said. “While cord-cutting is continuing to accelerate, there are still millions of American households who rely on OTA for sports, news and entertainment. Expanding distribution of our owned & operated linear Fubo Sports network to OTA stations maximizes accessibility for consumers while also creating a new revenue stream for Fubo.”

Launched in 2019 and female-founded, Fubo Sports streams more than 600 live sporting events each year.

Its programming features sports, topical shows and award-winning documentaries. Audiences can enjoy content from breakout and niche sports leagues such as Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), ProBox TV, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) and World Poker Tour, among others. A leading destination for combat sports, the network also broadcasts select live boxing and mixed martial arts events.

BALTIMORE—Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced a new broadcast affiliate distribution agreement with ABC Owned Television Stations that will make Charge!, one of Sinclair’s free, over-the-air, national broadcast TV networks, available on ABC Owned Television Stations’ Diginet 3.

Beginning April 1, Charge! will launch on the following ABC Owned Television Stations: WABC-TV New York channel 7.3, KABC-TV Los Angeles channel 7.3, WLS-TV Chicago channel 7.3, WPVI-TV Philadelphia channel 6.3, KTRK-TV Houston channel 13.3, , KGO-TV San Francisco channel 7.3, WTVD-TV Raleigh Durham channel 11.3 and KFSN-TV Fresno channel 30.3.

Charge!’s move into the big 4 network channel positions in the country’s largest markets, adds over four million new, over-the-air TV households as well as 3.73 million new pay TV/cable households. With the addition of this distribution agreement, Charge! can now be seen over-the-air in 109 U.S. markets, including nine of the Top-10 markets, Sinclair reported. 

“We are thrilled to launch Charge! and broaden our partnership with ABC Owned Television Stations. Sinclair continues to grow our multicast networks and secure big- 4 network row positioning for the launch of Charge! on all eight ABC powerhouse stations was a key strategic initiative,” said Lee Schlazer, senior vice president of distribution.

More information is available here. 

Sinclair Broadcast Group today announced network distribution agreements with CBS Television Stations to add Sinclair’s free over-the-air (OTA) national broadcast TV networks Comet, CHARGE!, TBD and The Nest to additional CBS affiliates beginning this week.   

The expanded agreement positions Sinclair’s networks Comet and CHARGE! in CBS’s key channel slots in several of the country’s top-10 markets, adjacent to all five broadcast networks, the station group said.

Sci-fi/fantasy channel Comet is coming to WCBS in New York on Channel 2.5 and on Channel 5.5 on San Francisco’s KPIX. Crime drama diginet Charge! will now be available on KCAL in Los Angeles on Channel 9.3, Chicago’s WBBM on Channel 2.5 and on Channel 3.5 on KYW in Philadelphia KYW. 

Comedy channel TBD will now be on Miami’s WBFS, on Channel 33.6; WPSG in Philadelphia, Channel 57.2; and on Channel 44.2 on KPYX in San Francisco. The Nest Sinclair’s newest network, which offers ‘comfort food’ programming, is now on  Channel 9.2  on KCAL in Los Angeles and on Channel 44.4 on KPYX. 

Sinclair says that Comet, CHARGE!, TBD. and The Nest were the fastest growing multicast networks in the country in 2023.

HUNT VALLEY, Md—Months after selling off its controlling interest in its Stadium sports network, Sinclair Broadcast Group is launching a new diginet to replace it. Starting Oct. 30, a new free OTA network, The Nest, that offers so-called “comfort food programming” comprised of home-improvement, true-crime, factual reality series, and celebrity driven family shows will start airing on the former Stadium channels.   

The mix of programming in daytime includes classic episodes of Flipping Boston, Flipping San Diego, Sell This House, American Justice and Cold Case Files.  While in primetime, The Nest will feature fun, celebrity-family dramas such as Growing up Gotti, Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour, Steven Segal: Lawman, Ice Road Truckers, Dog the Bounty Hunter and Wahlburgers.   

The Nest joins Sinclair’s lineup of national broadcast networks, Comet, CHARGE!, and TBD, which the broadcast group says have grown more than 23% in viewership over the past year.   

At launch the network will be available in more than 50% of all US OTA television households including the major markets of New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas - Ft. Worth, Boston, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose and Seattle-Tacoma with more affiliate additions in the coming months.  

BALTIMORE—Sinclair’s multicast TV network Charge! has announced a series of new distribution agreements effective July 1, resulting in significant upgrades to the network’s coverage in the New York DMA, especially in Manhattan.

Charge!’s new carriage includes an agreement with RNN Media Group, owners of New York’s WRNN, resulting in new distribution in Manhattan on Spectrum channel 92. 

Charge! has also reached a distribution agreement with WJLP, over-the-air channel 33.6, transmitting from One World Trade Center and allowing for greater reach across the New York DMA.

Charge! continues to be available elsewhere in the New York DMA on Altice and Verizon FiOS. 

As previously announced, Charge! will add the Dick Wolf series, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" to anchor its primetime lineup. The long-running primetime hit, starring Vincent D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe, joins "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: NY" this fall.

“With its lineup of the most prominent police franchises in TV history including `Law & Order: Criminal Intent' and `CSI: New York' , Charge! is primed for growth in the #1 DMA in the country,” said Adam Ware, senior vice president, Growth Networks Group. “No matter how viewers in the Tri-State area watch network TV, Charge! has them covered.”

Additionally, the network can be watched nationally on Dish Network, Sling TV, and YouTubeTV, where Charge! launched earlier this month. Charge! also streams live on the network’s connected TV app and at www.watchcharge.com.

BALTIMORE—Sinclair Broadcast Group’s free over-the-air multicast television networks Comet, Charge!, and TBD have acquired new series acquisitions for their 2023-24 broadcast season primetime lineups that include popular major TV franchises and original series.

“These networks are on a roll as viewers continue to leave cable TV networks in search of new entertainment options such as free over-the-air multicast networks and streaming,” said Adam Ware, senior vice president of Growth Networks Group at Sinclair. “For the first four months of 2023 Comet, Charge! and TBD ratings are up a collective 21% among P25-54 in primetime with each network registering double digit increases. These key series acquisitions combined with continued ratings and distribution growth perfectly position Comet, Charge! and TBD (The Stack) to offer advertisers meaningful options to reach network TV audiences in the upcoming 2023/24 broadcast season.” 

Comet, for fans of sci-fi and fantasy entertainment programming, adds the long-running NBC hit-series "Grimm". The show premieres on Comet this summer.

Charge!, home to the police franchises, adds the iconic Dick Wolf series, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" to anchor its primetime lineup. The long-running primetime hit launches on Charge! this fall.

TBD, one of the youngest skewing free TV networks available, will launch "The Laugh List", an exclusive, original primetime series, featuring funny viral videos from the producers of "America’s Funniest Home Videos", Vin Di Bona Productions. The show bows this fall. 

BALTIMORE—Sinclair Broadcast Group says primetime ratings for its three free over-the-air, multicast television networks Comet, CHARGE! and TBD have collectively grown a 30% increase in viewership so far this year. 

For the first 7 weeks of 2023, the networks experienced year-over-year growth across all key dayparts in the coveted P25-54 demographic. In Prime, the networks collectively garnered a 30% audience increase, while cable networks as a whole have declined by 23% on average for the same period, according to the broadcaster.

CHARGE!, which features a lineup of high-profile police procedural dramas including CSI: Miami and CSI: New York, saw a 54% increase, while TBD’s audience, who are attracted to the channel’s offerings of reality-based series including Fear Factor and World’s Dumbest garnered a 50% increase. Viewership for Comet, which broadcasts sci-fi and fantasy series franchises, including The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, rose 5% during the period.

In daytime, CHARGE! kicked off 2023 with the launch of its new weekday line up, anchored by the long-running CBS prime-time hit Without a Trace, resulting in a 50% double-digit year-over-year increase while Comet saw an increase of 82% viewership year over year with the Jan. 16 premiere of Stargate SG-1—one of the longest running sci-fi series in TV history—during the early evening 5-8 P.M. M-F timeslot.

“In recent months, Comet, CHARGE! and TBD have added new programming acquisitions, grown ratings and successfully launched several new series,” said Adam Ware SVP, Growth Networks Group for Sinclair.  “In January we announced the addition of new and upgraded local broadcast affiliates and linear carriage, adding 2.4 million national TV households. 2023 is off to a great start, it’s clear that the OTA broadcast sector is on the rise with even more exciting things to come, stay tuned.”

BALTIMORE, Md.—Sinclair is reporting that its Comet, Charge! and TBD diginets grew faster than all other digital multicast networks, across all dayparts in Q3 22.

Driven by the additions of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "CSI:NY", along with nearly 15 million additional TV households, including the key markets of New York, Boston, Atlanta and Tampa – St Petersburg, the networks saw double digit ratings increases, Sinclair announced. 

It reported that Comet realized a 31% increase in access, Charge! up 31% in primetime and TBD scored a 27% increase for total day.   

Thanks to that growth, Sinclair is also considering the launch of a fourth network in 2023, Broadcasting & Cable reported. 

Sinclair’s Growth Networks Group, which oversees the networks, also announcing additional investments in fan-favorite TV series to join the new 2023 network program schedules, set to launch in  January. 

Comet, home to many of TV’s top sci-fi brands, will be adding new high-profile programs to its lineup in Q1, 2023, including "Stargate SG-1". 

Charge!, which features iconic action and adventure TV series, will be adding two hit shows. On January 2, Charge! will anchor its daytime lineup with the premiere of "Without a Trace", the psychological drama.

Later in the quarter, Charge! will launch the long running modern-day Sherlock Holmes CBS procedural drama "Elementary", to late night audiences.

TBD, which features unscripted content, will add an additional run of "World’s Dumbest" to its primetime lineup. 

Sinclair also announced that on Charge! launched on the Nexstar owned NBC affiliate on channel 8.2 servicing the Tampa - St Petersburg (Sarasota) market, the 13th ranked DMA, which also includes market wide cable carriage. 

With the launch, Sinclair reported that its diginets have added nearly 15 million TV households in new coverage in 2022 through affiliate partnerships with CBS Stations, Cox Media Group, Nexstar Media Group, and Optimum. The networks also added nationwide carriage on Dish Network and Sling TV. 

“Digital broadcast television is on the rise as new viewers continue to discover a broad range of free over-the-air digital TV networks.  Comet, CHARGE! and TBD are the fastest growing networks in the space, delivering a unique portfolio of network brands featuring fan favorite TV series. We’re excited to continue our investment in these networks and the roll out of our new lineups in January,” said Adam Ware senior vice president Growth Networks Group.

At the NextTV Summit, part of Future's NYC TV Week in New York this week, the panel “RIP Broadcast TV?” looked at the viability of the original TV platform in the era of streaming TV. It also discussed how broadcast TV is extending its reach on newer platforms. Rob Weisbord, chief operating officer and president of broadcast at Sinclair Broadcast Group, spoke about the importance of the broadcast “ecosystem” in retaining its relevance, including diginets and mobile apps. “We look at everything as spokes to a wheel,” he said. 

That includes Sinclair streaming network Stirr and news app NewsOn. 

As much as the major subscription streamers dominate the traditional primetime, Weisbord said consolidation is inevitable for that sector. Programming costs, he added, mentioning Netflix movie The Gray Man, are not sustainable, and perhaps the streamers will consider licensing content to station groups. 

Jim Long, CEO of LocalBTV/Didja, said Sinclair has the right idea about connecting with viewers on all platforms. “Sinclair is doing exactly what they should be doing,” he said. “Be where the consumers are.”

The panelists made the point that, as much as viewers rely on Netflix, Hulu and other subscription streamers, those platforms don’t provide local programming. “Localism is the most important thing to us,” said Kevin Dunaway, VUit VP, affiliate relations & content development, adding how VUit has 300 station partners. “We want to partner with [stations] because that content is important to all those areas.”

Dunaway made the point that a local programming event, be it a sports game or a parade, can often get significant viewership beyond the event’s home market. 

With viewers facing so many viewing options, some say there’s greater demand for local content. “We always say that content is king, but maybe it’s even more true than before,” said Stephane Guez, CTO at Dalet. “If you don’t do it well, people are going to click somewhere else.”

ATSC 3.0 looks to enhance local broadcasters’ relationships with viewers, and users, in their communities. Guez called ATSC “just another way to make it easier to combine traditional broadcast and IP distribution.”

Another unique selling point for local broadcast is over the air, and free. “We have a very attractive proposition,” said Weisbord. “We have 50 plus years of heritage doing this and nothing replaces that heritage.” 

David Bloom, senior contributor, NextTV, moderated the panel. 

This article originally appeared on TV Tech sister brand NextTV.

BALTIMORE—Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced that its multicast networks have notably expanded their distribution by adding new stations to their lineup.  

On Sept. 1, Sinclair’s action and adventure multicast network Charge! added 7 new stations: Portland, OR (KATU), Salt Lake City (KUTV), Jacksonville (WLTV), Providence, RI (WJAR), Tucson (KOLD) and Johnstown, PA (WJAC).

Comet added 12 new stations on Sept. 1: Salt Lake City (KUTV), Vegas (KSNV), Jacksonville (WLTV), Memphis (WANT), Knoxville (WBIR), Spokane (KREM), Tucson (KMSB), Huntsville (WZDX), Waco (KCEN), Missoula (KECI), Wheeling (WTOV) and Butte (KTVM).

The multicast networks will be replacing MeTV, Sinclair reported. 

Earlier this summer, Sinclair announced that by September, the multicast networks will add over 13 million new households through upgrades and new affiliations in the top 50 DMAs, including New York, Atlanta, Boston, Portland Ore., Indianapolis, and Las Vegas. 

In addition to the expansion of the footprint of the networks, Sinclair said that it has signed new agreements that involve moving to stronger broadcast affiliates, several of which include DMA-wide MVPD carriage, through new agreements with CBS Stations, Cox Media Group, Nexstar Media Group, and Optimum, as well as adding nationwide carriage on Dish Network and Sling TV.

The networks have also made programming additions which have increased viewership in some time periods by double digits, Sinclair said. 

BALTIMORE—Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced significant growth in its free over-the-air, national, multicast television networks, Comet, Charge! and TBD.

By September, the multicast network will add over 13 million new households through upgrades and new affiliations in the top 50 DMAs, including New York, Atlanta, Boston, Portland Ore., Indianapolis, and Las Vegas. 

In addition to the expansion of the footprint of the networks, Sinclair said that it has signed new agreements that involve moving to stronger broadcast affiliates, several of which include DMA-wide MVPD carriage, through new agreements with CBS Stations, Cox Media Group, Nexstar Media Group, and Optimum, as well as adding nationwide carriage on Dish Network and Sling TV.

More specifically, Charge!, a network for fans of action programming, will have completed the following distribution upgrades by September:

• New York (Market 1) – Launches across the DMA on Optimum channel 148.
• Portland, Ore. (Market 21) and Providence (Market 52) – Moves to Sinclair Broadcast Group owned stations on ABC affiliate KATU channel 2.2 and on NBC affiliate WJAR channel 10.2.
• Nationwide - Launches on Dish Network’s internet-connected set top boxes on channel 290-36 as well as on Sling TV.

Comet, the only broadcast network in the U.S. for fans of sci-fi, will have completed the following distribution upgrades by September: 

• Atlanta (Market 7) and Boston (Market 10) – Moves to Cox Media Group owned ABC affiliate WSB channel 2.4 and Fox affiliate WFXT channel 25.2 (which includes DMA-wide MVPD carriage).
• Las Vegas (Market 40) – Moves to Sinclair Broadcast Group owned NBC affiliate KSNV channel 2.3.

TBD, a network for fans of internet content and one of the youngest skewing broadcast networks in the US, will have completed the following distribution upgrades by September:

• Atlanta (Market 7) and Boston (Market 10) - Moves to CBS Stations owned CW affiliate WUPA channel 69.3 and WSBK channel 38.3.
• Indianapolis (Market 25) - Launches on Nexstar Media Group owned CBS affiliate WTTV channel 4.4.

Sinclair also announced new programming additions designed to boost viewing going into the 2022/2023 season. 

Those include the launch of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Comet’s primetime lineup on June 6th. The show’s two-hour premiere attracted 543,000 total viewers and boosted viewing in the time period by 108%. 

“Charge!, Comet and TBD are some of the fastest growing networks, becoming more popular on paid and free platforms, as we strengthen our affiliate partnerships across the country and continue to invest in fan favorite and familiar TV series and movies,” said Adam Ware senior vice president Growth Networks Group.

IRVING, Texas—Nexstar Media has launched Rewind TV, a digital subchannel offering a slate  of classic television sitcoms from the 1980s and 1990s in nearly 50 million homes, about 40% of all U.S. TV homes, including such large markets such as New  York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. 

Rewind TV is available on newly designated or recently vacated digital sub-channels licensed to Nexstar.  

Nexstar’s companion digital network, Antenna TV, remains focused on programming from the 1960s and  1970s, including weeknight reruns of “Johnny Carson.”  

“We created Rewind TV to give Gen X viewers a network dedicated to their own nostalgic comedy  classics,” said Sean Compton, president of Nexstar Media’s Network Division. “We’re excited about  today’s debut, and looking forward to expanding the network to millions more viewers in additional  markets across the country. Rewind has a lot of opportunity for growth.”  

More information about Rewind TV, including a list of digital subchannels carrying the network, can be  found at www.rewindtv.com.   

IRVING, Texas & NEW YORK, N.Y.—Nexstar Media Inc. and SportsGrid Inc., a streaming video network that provides extensive coverage of sports betting, today announced a multi-year agreement to launch “SportsGrid Network,” the nation’s first-ever diginet devoted to sports wagering and fantasy sports. 

The SportsGrid Network will launch on September 1 across nine digital subchannels licensed to Nexstar in nine U.S. markets, including San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Tampa, Portland, Nashville, Norfolk, Grand Rapids, Knoxville, and Des Moines.

SportsGrid, the nation’s first and only 24-hour sports wagering and fantasy sports program service, is currently distributed across over-the-air broadcast and cable television, connected Smart TVs, a variety of streaming platforms, mobile devices and on the internet, the companies said. 

The new SportsGrid Network will be available on recently vacated digital sub-channels licensed to Nexstar.

“Our nation is sports obsessed and we are delighted to deliver SportsGrid’s programming to address the rapidly growing interest in sports betting and fantasy sports,” said Sean Compton, president of Nexstar Media Inc.’s Networks Division. “Distributing SportsGrid’s programming across digital subchannels in nine of our markets will enable us to connect with new audiences and continue expanding a new and fast growing revenue stream. As the nation’s #1 provider of content to fans of sports wagering and fantasy sports, SportsGrid is the perfect partner for this effort.”

At its launch, SportsGrid Network will feature 18 hours of exclusive live original programming hosted by a team of on-air personalities, sports and gambling experts, and guest contributors, as well as a variety of pre-produced programming and encore presentations of the network’s most popular shows, the companies reported. 

SportsGrid’s reporting and analytic platform includes daily odds, lines, matchups, injury reports, statistics, news, and more across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, college sports, golf, tennis, and soccer. SportsGrid’s live programming originates from state-of-the-art television production facilities adjacent to Madison Square Garden in New York City and at the SG Studios & Production Hub in New Jersey.

“Nexstar’s national reach across 199 owned or operated television stations in 116 markets throughout the U.S. is a great platform for distributing our content to fantasy sports fans and gamblers everywhere,” explained Louis Maione, founder and president of SportsGrid. “This initial nine-station launch of SportsGrid content will inform and entertain millions of sports fans across all screens and devices and provide them with expert reporting, commentary and analysis using our exclusive proprietary SportsGrid analytics platform. Finally, this agreement provides both companies the opportunity to share content and to strategically expand the network to additional Nexstar markets.”

LOS ANGELES—As the audience for diginets grows, so do their programming offerings. And diginets’ audiences are growing, make no mistake. While the nets—also known as multicast networks—got their start due to the availability of spectrum and extra channels when high-definition television came online, they have grown their businesses due to the unexpected rise of so-called cord-cutters and cord-nevers.

Instead of subscribing to expensive cable packages, cord-cutters, or people who abandon their cable subscription, and cord-nevers, or those who’ve never subscribed to cable in the first place, figure out other ways to watch television. One way that is growing in popularity is pairing inexpensive over-the-air antennas with over-the-top streaming subscriptions.

For example, a user could put an antenna on his house and then subscribe to advertising-supported Hulu for $7.99 per month, thereby creating a virtual cable package composed of over-the-air linear broadcasters, including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and The CW, as well as multicast networks, such as MeTV, This TV, Antenna TV, Cozi TV and many more.

The share of U.S. households that acquire their TV signals via over-the-air antenna increased to 20 percent—or about 24 million homes—from 16 percent from early 2015 through the end of 2017, according to Parks Associates data from March.

“If you put yourself in the shoes of someone who can’t afford or chooses not to subscribe to cable or satellite, an entertainment option with a free price point becomes popular,” Katz Networks President and CEO Jonathan Katz said. “It’s a pairing that has organically happened as consumers have combined these two platforms into their own bundle.”

In August 2017, The E.W. Scripps Co. acquired the 95 percent of Katz it didn’t already own, including four multicast networks, Bounce, Escape, Grit and Laff, and subscription streaming service Brown Sugar, for $302 million. With the additional cash infusion, Katz has been able to accelerate its programming acquisitions.

For example, in November, Bounce acquired all seven seasons of Shonda Rhimes’ “Scandal” from Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International, which it began airing in primetime on Monday, Nov. 12.

Katz also has acquired Disney’s “According to Jim,” to premiere on comedy-focused network Laff in 2019, joining “Home Improvement,” “3rd Rock From the Sun,” “That ’70s Show,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “Night Court,” “Spin City” and more.

On Jan. 1, 2019, female-focused Escape is adding the first 12 seasons of “Law & Order” and every episode of “Boston Legal” to a programming lineup that also includes “Without a Trace.”

And Western network Grit will add Warner Bros.’ movie library of Westerns to its schedule.

Bounce also is the first diginet to expand into original scripted series and movies, Katz said.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, it premiered holiday movie “Stone Cold Christmas,” a modern and female-driven take on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” On Monday, Jan. 7, it will premiere half-hour series “Last Call,” starring “Empire’s” Charles Malik Whitfield as an ex-NFL player who opens a comedy club. “Last Call” joins a slate of original series that includes “Saints & Sinners,” “Family Time” and “In the Cut.”

NETTING NOSTALGIA VIEWERS

While the Katz networks are growing quickly, the highest-rated and best-distributed diginet continues to be Weigel Broadcasting’s MeTV, which airs nostalgia programming such as “Charlie’s Angels,” “Big Valley,” “Bonanza” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.” In the coming months, MeTV will launch its first original program, which it is producing in-house.

Besides MeTV, Weigel offers diginets Heroes & Icons, Movies and Decades. MeTV was one of the first diginets to launch and continues to offer nostalgia fare, along with competitors such as This TV, Antenna TV and Cozi TV.

In September, Weigel launched Start TV in partnership with the CBS-owned stations. The network airs scripted crime dramas that target women, such as “The Closer,” “The Division,” “Early Edition,” “Family Law,” “Joan of Arcadia,” “Medium,” “Profiler,” “Touched by an Angel” and “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.”

Start TV already has done well enough that it will be nationally rated by Nielsen come December. In January, it will add five shows to the schedule, including “The Good Wife” and “Crossing Jordan.”

“We continue to schedule dramas with women in leading and significant roles,” Weigel Vice Chairman Neal Sabin said. “That’s one of the reasons we think the network has resonated so well with women. The network was correctly positioned at the right time.”

Another network that got its start largely as a nostalgia net, NBCUniversal’s Cozi TV, is starting to program more recent series. On Jan. 1, it will launch sitcom “The Office.”

“It’s a bold, innovative show that has proven to be rewatchable and has such a fan following,” Cozi TV Senior VP Meredith McGinn said.

Cozi airs classic sitcoms in primetime blocks, having found that viewers stick around for them. During the day, it airs dramas such as “Murder, She Wrote” and “Little House on the Prairie.” The diginet is available in more than 90 million homes and in 82 percent of the U.S.

The flip side of the Cozi coin is Spanish-language diginet TeleXitos, which launched in December 2014 and offers classic English-language series and movies dubbed in Spanish. So, U.S. Hispanics who enjoyed shows such as “Miami Vice” and “Law & Order” when they were growing up in their home countries can enjoy those shows again in their native language and with their families. TeleXitos just debuted “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” also dubbed in Spanish.

“The beauty of this network is that it offers viewers another option, something else to watch,” TeleXitos Senior Director Barbara Alfonso said. “Our brand is not nostalgia, it’s action-adventure.”

To that end, TeleXitos also programs movies, also dubbed in Spanish, and often packages them to serve as cross-platform promotion for other NBCUniversal interests.

For example, last summer TeleXitos aired the “Jurassic Park” movies in Spanish on “prehistoric Fridays” just as NBCUniversal was rolling out global blockbuster “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.” This holiday season, TeleXitos will offer “Legends of the Desert,” featuring such franchises as “The Mummy” and “The Scorpion King.”

GETTING SPECIFIC

Beyond the nostalgia networks, niche channels offer specific programming targeted at distinct audiences, such as Cooper Media’s Justice and Quest networks. Justice programs true-crime series targeting women 25 to 54, while Quest offers reality shows geared toward men, such as “Ice Road Truckers” and “MythBusters.” Because diginets are most often watched by cord-cutters and cord-nevers, these networks offer such viewers shows they can’t get because they are only available with a linear pay TV subscription.

“What we did when we built Justice, and then Quest three years later, we looked at what the options were for viewers across cable and streaming platforms,” Cooper Media VP of Strategy and Distribution Brian Weiss said. “The true, screaming needs, as far as we were concerned, for over the air was crime. There’s a huge, loyal audience for crime, and there was nothing on broadcast that was 24/7 true crime.

“Fast-forward three years later, if you look at Nielsen trends across cable, broadcast and streaming media, there’s nothing really available on broadcast or Netflix and Hulu that falls into the category of male-oriented factual entertainment,” he continued. “It felt like a nice niche for us to fill that no one else has touched.”

Another niche diginet is Fremantle-Media’s Buzzr, which packages the company’s nostalgic game shows, such as vintage “Family Feud,” “Supermarket Sweep,” “Password” and many more. Earlier this year, it added “Celebrity Name Game,” hosted by Craig Ferguson, after it had completed its three-season syndication run.

“We’re all running shows that tap into some sort of nostalgia or some sort of niche audience,” Buzzr General Manager Mark Deetjen said. “Nobody’s really doing any serious first-run content, nobody’s buying first-run sports. We’re all trying to figure out the economics that this business can support. From that standpoint, we’re all in the same boat.”

Buzzr, which is in 88 million U.S. homes, was just added to Pluto TV, which is available as an app on Roku, Apple TV and Sony Connected TVs, as well as on the Android and iOS platforms and via its website. It will soon join Samsung’s TV Plus package.

Buzzr also has just started working with partner networks on promotional efforts. For example, on Nov. 25, Buzzr aired a marathon of season one of the “Great Christmas Light Fight,” before the show’s new season debuted on ABC on Nov. 26.

“We’re tiptoeing into the pool here with ABC,” Deetjen said. “We want to show that we are bringing value to the table, too.”

The diginet business model continues to be powered by direct-response advertising—when a consumer has to call a 1-800 number to buy the goods or service advertised—but it’s evolving into a hybrid model, with more general-market advertisers buying spots on some of the bigger, nationally rated networks such as MeTV and Bounce. With more than a quarter of diginets nationally available and nationally rated, they offer a value proposition to brands.

Diginets combined with OTT services also offer a value proposition to consumers.

“For a consumer, whether they are watching a screen on their phone or a screen on their wall, they are just watching TV,” Katz said. “This resembles the early days of basic cable and it’s a tremendous value for consumers.”

CHICAGO—Weigel Broadcasting Co. in association with CBS Television Stations will launch a new Diginet Sept. 3 with coverage of 42 percent of U.S. TV households.

Start TV, will showcase strong, resourceful female as leading characters in a lineup of contemporary and proven procedural dramas. At launch, it will offer an original seven-day-a-week strip schedule. Episodes air every day at the same time.

"We are excited to launch the Start TV Network with the CBS Television Stations," said Neal Sabin, Vice Chairman of Weigel Broadcasting.

CBS Television Stations with stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Francisco, Atlanta, Boston, Seattle, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Miami, Denver, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore will carry Start TV.

Weigel Broadcasting owns stations in St. Louis, Cedar City-St. George-Salt Lake, Utah, Milwaukee, Rockford, Ill., and South Bend, Ind.

Bahakel Communications will also pick up the new Diginet in Charlotte, N.C., Columbia, S.C., and Montgomery, Ala.

More information is available on the Start TV website.

WASHINGTON—The FCC last week revised its annual filing rules to relieve certain television broadcasters of their obligation to submit Schedule G, which details how they use their DTV bitstreams.

In a Report and Order released April 13, the commission modified its rules to require only licensees and permittees that provide “feeable” ancillary or supplementary services—and thus must pay a 5 percent fee on gross revenues earned from those services—to file Schedule G.

Prior to the rule change, all DTV stations offering ancillary or supplementary services were required every year to file, regardless of whether they earned revenue from the services or not.

[Read: FCC Waives Ancillary/Supplementary Service Reports]

A review of 2017 Schedule G filings conducted by Media Bureau staff found that of the more than 6,000 DTV stations required to file Schedule G prior to the rule change only 12 actually earned revenue from their ancillary or supplementary services.

Parties replying to a public notice launching an FCC review of media regulations last spring urged the agency to change the rule as part of its Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative, the Report and Order said.

“We find persuasive commenters’ unanimous assertions that requiring all DTV stations to file this form, regardless of whether they have provided ancillary or supplementary services or received revenue from those services, imposes unnecessary regulatory burdens and wastes resources,” the agency said in its Report and Order.